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Article NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Northamptonshire Architectural Society.
the severe simplicity of the elevation , Avhich at once bespeaks the practical character of the institution , so commends itself that , even in an architectural point of view , it will be a great loss , should the district for whose use it is intended not come forward liberally to furnish the necessary funds for its erection . The original design for the new church at Clapton , which was to replace one of the finest specimens of any Geometrical Gothic in the county , in its earliest form rejected altogether
the re-use of the old decorative materials , but , through the representations of our society , a promise has been given that every available feature of the old church shall be worked up again in the new . Those who , like myself , saw the splendid windows and arches of the old church laid out on the greensward , in more than their pristine beauty , their outlines rounded , and their colour toned by the soft grey lichens of five centuries , can hardly reconcile themselves to the belief in the necessity of so thorough
a demolition as has been accomplished . When wo condemn the Avell-abused eighteenth century for the destruction and deportation of Ruston and Overstone , we hardly expected to see a similar story enacted in the proud light of the nineteenth century , under the sanction of official authority .
The re-building of Sywell church , unfortunately without the aid of an architect , has been carried out in a more conservative spirit , though , it may be feared , with tiie loss of some timehonoured features . Committee for Local Antiquities . —The most important step taken this year for the advancement and extension of the interests and operations of the association has been the appointment of a local committee of gentlemen who , living chiefly in
the town of Northampton , and holding evening meetings once a month , have taken under their special cognizance the description and preservation of antiquities ofthe immediate neighbourhood , and carried the work of the society into a field which we have always been most anxious to cultivate , but which , till the appointment of this committee , we have been unable to approach . This movement has resulted in the accession of many new members from the town itselfj and has led to many most valuable memoirs and discussions . It only requires to be better known to gather to itself archaeologists and learners in every department , and to form the centre of an art union between town and country ,
whicli I hope may find a still further practical development in the museum , which , under the " Public Library and Museum Act , " has been liberally adopted by the town , and for the location of which the new town hall , now in the course of building , has made provision . After a few remarks upon the want of funds for the entire restoration of St . Sepulchre ' s church , the rev . gentleman entered into the following criticism of the
Architecture of the International Exhihition . —He said : —An architectural report for the year 1862 , which professes to be discursive , can hardly omit some reference to the Great International Exhibition . The building itself has certainly not been a happy illustration of English architectural art ; nor , even if iron and glass are to be henceforth the popular materials-which the architect will be called upon to employ , can this be called a successful adaptation of them . It is a decided falling off from
the constructive success of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham , and its main defect is in the feature to Avhich it looked for its greatest triumph . It has proved the utter absurdity , both for effect and inconvenience of a dome of glass . Even had the domes been raised on the drum , or upright circular base , on which every dome should rest , yet the material of glass is as inefficient to give a pleasing external outline against the sky , as it is , domically used , ill-fated to give an agreeable light within . The fact of the necessity of suspending a veil in the
western dome to make tbe glare and heat supportable , is sufficient proof of its inconvenience in this latter respect . The failure of a glass dome , years ago , in the stables ofthe Pavilion at Brighton , ought to have prevented this unfortunate experiment . We must only be thankful that we were spared the still larger central dome with which Ave were once threatened ; and we shall be surprised if , after witnessing our mistake , the French persist in carrying out this feature in the Permanent Exhibition
Building which is already rising at Paris . The eye raised up to the concave surface of a dome , seeks the repose which opacity and solidity alone can give ; and to be met with a glaring stream of light in place of this repose is most repelling and painful . It is the only place and occasion , perhaps , in which we should not wish the sun to shine . It seems to me that there is needed a strong expression from all lovers of art in Great Britain against the
perseverance in tbe perpetration of such architecture as South Kensington delights in . This indescribable composition , whose boast it is that it dispenses alike with architect and style , is gradually establishing itself over the whole area obtained by the Commissioners with the profits of the Exhibition of 1851 , The Horticultural Gardens have , to my mind , been piteouslv sacrificed to it ; and there is now growing up in the centre ofthe South Kensington Museum a permanent erection which ,
though certainly well adapted to set oft' tbe splendid treasures of the Art-upon-Loan Exhibition , yet holds them in no other fashion than the jewel is held in the toad ' s head . The old corrugated iron Bromptoii boilers all could put up with . They were so avowedly temporary that one rejoiced that their ugliness eventually enforced something better , and that their cheapness offered no bar to their speedy destruction ; but when permanent buildings are being erected to bold the art treasures of the king ,
dom , we may well expect that some architect of note should be called in to save us from such fearful inflictions as are exhibited in the strange construction and anomalous ornamental details of the new buildings . Even humble provincial societies like our
own may do some good by an expression of their opinion , because they are thoroughly free from that professional jealousy which is alleged by the advocates of this new style as the motive of the opposition which has been raised against it . " Altogether , architecture has received poor recognition from the Exhibition Commissioners . It had some difficulty in gaining any position there ; and as far as foreign architecture is concerned , it can hardly be said to be represented at all . But the
English department shows unmistakeably that whatever life and progress there is in British architecture , it is wholly in the line of Gothic development . " I cannot but consider the Majolica fountain a great mistake ; not but that there is much merit in its design and proportions , but it errs in the use of the material employed . » It seems as great a deflexion of good taste in one extreme to apply pottery to such large and permanent structureas to me it has
, always seemed in the other extreme to apply minute and exquisite miniature painting , as in Sevres porcelain , to so brittle and insignificant a ware . China has been most felicitiously ornamented and employed by that people who first manufactured it , and from whence it derived its name . The French bronze fountains in the Horticultural Gardens were much more fitted
for their purpose , as well as more elegant in form , and are at least proof against the stone-pelting of mischievous boys . " Architectural Art Specimens . —Mr . Blaskfield ' s terra cotta productions are the most direct contributions to architectural art which this neighbourhood sends to the Exhibition . Our architect seems hardly aware of the excellence which he has achieved at his works at Stamford . I can conceive nothing better for the ornamentation of brick buildings than bands or
cornices of terra cotta , such as he produces . He is ready to adopt any good pattern ; and I think it may not be long before we see his manufacture employed at least in our school buildings and houses . The Rev . R . Baker , one of our members , exhibits in the Mediaeval Court an admirable specimen of carving in an eagle lectern , which has attracted much attention , and which I hope he may some day bring to one of our public meetings . An excellent sample of wall decoration is shown in the same court
by iVfr . C . J . Lea , of Lutterworth , who has often furnished contributions of his handiwork to our local exhibitions in the form of stencilled diapers , wall decorations , & c . His production in the Mediicval Court is of a more ambitious character , being a figured subject , from the legend of St . Alban , for the decoration of the walls of a church in the north , dedicated under the name of this proto-martyr of Britain . The figures are enclosed in a compartment , and broad bands of diapered ornament run aboveand below .
The colouring is remarkably chaste and sober , and far more suited to the decoration of churches than the raw , course colouring which has been too commonly adopted in ecclesiastical buildings in deference to the supposed practice of the middle ages . It seems to me that the English eye has never appreciated colour in art , except as used in natural substances , as in the working-up varicoloured stones in buildings , in which t ' mediievalists of this country certainly excelled ; but if their
painted wood screens , and roofs , and tombs are to be considered as fairly representing their taste and colour , I know of little more barbarous or less worthy of our copying in modern works . We are feeling our way to : a better system of colouring , but the progress is likely to be slow . With liiiieh to admire in the Hereford screen in the crucifixion , I cannot think that its paint-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Northamptonshire Architectural Society.
the severe simplicity of the elevation , Avhich at once bespeaks the practical character of the institution , so commends itself that , even in an architectural point of view , it will be a great loss , should the district for whose use it is intended not come forward liberally to furnish the necessary funds for its erection . The original design for the new church at Clapton , which was to replace one of the finest specimens of any Geometrical Gothic in the county , in its earliest form rejected altogether
the re-use of the old decorative materials , but , through the representations of our society , a promise has been given that every available feature of the old church shall be worked up again in the new . Those who , like myself , saw the splendid windows and arches of the old church laid out on the greensward , in more than their pristine beauty , their outlines rounded , and their colour toned by the soft grey lichens of five centuries , can hardly reconcile themselves to the belief in the necessity of so thorough
a demolition as has been accomplished . When wo condemn the Avell-abused eighteenth century for the destruction and deportation of Ruston and Overstone , we hardly expected to see a similar story enacted in the proud light of the nineteenth century , under the sanction of official authority .
The re-building of Sywell church , unfortunately without the aid of an architect , has been carried out in a more conservative spirit , though , it may be feared , with tiie loss of some timehonoured features . Committee for Local Antiquities . —The most important step taken this year for the advancement and extension of the interests and operations of the association has been the appointment of a local committee of gentlemen who , living chiefly in
the town of Northampton , and holding evening meetings once a month , have taken under their special cognizance the description and preservation of antiquities ofthe immediate neighbourhood , and carried the work of the society into a field which we have always been most anxious to cultivate , but which , till the appointment of this committee , we have been unable to approach . This movement has resulted in the accession of many new members from the town itselfj and has led to many most valuable memoirs and discussions . It only requires to be better known to gather to itself archaeologists and learners in every department , and to form the centre of an art union between town and country ,
whicli I hope may find a still further practical development in the museum , which , under the " Public Library and Museum Act , " has been liberally adopted by the town , and for the location of which the new town hall , now in the course of building , has made provision . After a few remarks upon the want of funds for the entire restoration of St . Sepulchre ' s church , the rev . gentleman entered into the following criticism of the
Architecture of the International Exhihition . —He said : —An architectural report for the year 1862 , which professes to be discursive , can hardly omit some reference to the Great International Exhibition . The building itself has certainly not been a happy illustration of English architectural art ; nor , even if iron and glass are to be henceforth the popular materials-which the architect will be called upon to employ , can this be called a successful adaptation of them . It is a decided falling off from
the constructive success of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham , and its main defect is in the feature to Avhich it looked for its greatest triumph . It has proved the utter absurdity , both for effect and inconvenience of a dome of glass . Even had the domes been raised on the drum , or upright circular base , on which every dome should rest , yet the material of glass is as inefficient to give a pleasing external outline against the sky , as it is , domically used , ill-fated to give an agreeable light within . The fact of the necessity of suspending a veil in the
western dome to make tbe glare and heat supportable , is sufficient proof of its inconvenience in this latter respect . The failure of a glass dome , years ago , in the stables ofthe Pavilion at Brighton , ought to have prevented this unfortunate experiment . We must only be thankful that we were spared the still larger central dome with which Ave were once threatened ; and we shall be surprised if , after witnessing our mistake , the French persist in carrying out this feature in the Permanent Exhibition
Building which is already rising at Paris . The eye raised up to the concave surface of a dome , seeks the repose which opacity and solidity alone can give ; and to be met with a glaring stream of light in place of this repose is most repelling and painful . It is the only place and occasion , perhaps , in which we should not wish the sun to shine . It seems to me that there is needed a strong expression from all lovers of art in Great Britain against the
perseverance in tbe perpetration of such architecture as South Kensington delights in . This indescribable composition , whose boast it is that it dispenses alike with architect and style , is gradually establishing itself over the whole area obtained by the Commissioners with the profits of the Exhibition of 1851 , The Horticultural Gardens have , to my mind , been piteouslv sacrificed to it ; and there is now growing up in the centre ofthe South Kensington Museum a permanent erection which ,
though certainly well adapted to set oft' tbe splendid treasures of the Art-upon-Loan Exhibition , yet holds them in no other fashion than the jewel is held in the toad ' s head . The old corrugated iron Bromptoii boilers all could put up with . They were so avowedly temporary that one rejoiced that their ugliness eventually enforced something better , and that their cheapness offered no bar to their speedy destruction ; but when permanent buildings are being erected to bold the art treasures of the king ,
dom , we may well expect that some architect of note should be called in to save us from such fearful inflictions as are exhibited in the strange construction and anomalous ornamental details of the new buildings . Even humble provincial societies like our
own may do some good by an expression of their opinion , because they are thoroughly free from that professional jealousy which is alleged by the advocates of this new style as the motive of the opposition which has been raised against it . " Altogether , architecture has received poor recognition from the Exhibition Commissioners . It had some difficulty in gaining any position there ; and as far as foreign architecture is concerned , it can hardly be said to be represented at all . But the
English department shows unmistakeably that whatever life and progress there is in British architecture , it is wholly in the line of Gothic development . " I cannot but consider the Majolica fountain a great mistake ; not but that there is much merit in its design and proportions , but it errs in the use of the material employed . » It seems as great a deflexion of good taste in one extreme to apply pottery to such large and permanent structureas to me it has
, always seemed in the other extreme to apply minute and exquisite miniature painting , as in Sevres porcelain , to so brittle and insignificant a ware . China has been most felicitiously ornamented and employed by that people who first manufactured it , and from whence it derived its name . The French bronze fountains in the Horticultural Gardens were much more fitted
for their purpose , as well as more elegant in form , and are at least proof against the stone-pelting of mischievous boys . " Architectural Art Specimens . —Mr . Blaskfield ' s terra cotta productions are the most direct contributions to architectural art which this neighbourhood sends to the Exhibition . Our architect seems hardly aware of the excellence which he has achieved at his works at Stamford . I can conceive nothing better for the ornamentation of brick buildings than bands or
cornices of terra cotta , such as he produces . He is ready to adopt any good pattern ; and I think it may not be long before we see his manufacture employed at least in our school buildings and houses . The Rev . R . Baker , one of our members , exhibits in the Mediaeval Court an admirable specimen of carving in an eagle lectern , which has attracted much attention , and which I hope he may some day bring to one of our public meetings . An excellent sample of wall decoration is shown in the same court
by iVfr . C . J . Lea , of Lutterworth , who has often furnished contributions of his handiwork to our local exhibitions in the form of stencilled diapers , wall decorations , & c . His production in the Mediicval Court is of a more ambitious character , being a figured subject , from the legend of St . Alban , for the decoration of the walls of a church in the north , dedicated under the name of this proto-martyr of Britain . The figures are enclosed in a compartment , and broad bands of diapered ornament run aboveand below .
The colouring is remarkably chaste and sober , and far more suited to the decoration of churches than the raw , course colouring which has been too commonly adopted in ecclesiastical buildings in deference to the supposed practice of the middle ages . It seems to me that the English eye has never appreciated colour in art , except as used in natural substances , as in the working-up varicoloured stones in buildings , in which t ' mediievalists of this country certainly excelled ; but if their
painted wood screens , and roofs , and tombs are to be considered as fairly representing their taste and colour , I know of little more barbarous or less worthy of our copying in modern works . We are feeling our way to : a better system of colouring , but the progress is likely to be slow . With liiiieh to admire in the Hereford screen in the crucifixion , I cannot think that its paint-